Lex Luthor, a true Patriot
by nick.zambuto
Summary: As Big Boss himself said, taking it all back to 0 solves nothing. As long as 0 remains, it will eventually become 100 again. But when you're Lex Luthor, skipping right into the thousands is all too easy, especially when you have a legendary hero doing the dirty work for you... err, Solid Snake is old? Guess Lex will have to change that... and what's this about the Joker?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes**

**Hey all, I got another story coming your way! Imagine my surprise - no, scratch that. _Shock _would be a better word - imagine my shock when I found out, through the entirety of , there is only ONE Batman/MGS crossover. It's madness I tell you! Well, that's why I wrote this. Hope you enjoy, and please drop a review when you're finished!**

So, the Patriots were gone eh? Just like that?

"After all the trouble they've caused me. After all my failed attempts to destroy them..."

The large frame of Lex Luthor stood proudly overlooking the spiraling "City of Metropolis" from his luxury offices' window. But along with the pride he felt looking out at the smoggy skyline, there came a tremendous surge of rage from deep in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, he bars his teeth and without warning, thrusts his fist into the wall.

"Some old fart just bursts in and takes them down? Just like that?"

"Just like that sir,".

Shaking, Lex slowly removed his fist from the wall, barely registering that there was now a gaping hole in it let alone that his knuckles were split open. He was too angry to notice. He felt that at any second his head might explode.

Taking a deep breath and collecting himself, he turns to face Deborah Mimes, his new 'secretary.' Deborah was a plain looking girl, though not unappealing. As she pushes a lock of brunette hair behind her ear, Deborah looks down towards her other arm where she clutches a stack of papers. Peering at the documents through thick glasses, she began to read.

"He wasn't just some 'old fart' though sir," she began, "Codename Solid Snake, first name David, last unknown. He was the man-"

"The man responsible for thwarting the Outer Heaven Crisis, Zanzibarland Disturbance, Shadow Moses Incident, and Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection yes, yes, I _know," _the venom practically dripping from his lips.

Lex waves Deborah off, turning back around and folding his hands behind himself.

"Doesn't change the fact that he's degenerated into a useless sack of wrinkled flesh,".

Deborah remains quiet, awaiting orders. Luthor looks over his shoulder, back at her, eyes squinted. Truth be told, he liked Deborah. She didn't seem to have any ulterior motives-none that truth serum, mind probes, or extensive interrogation sessions could pick up anyway.

"Loyalty…" he thought. He didn't have a lick of it, but it was something he liked to have in his employees.

"Ugh… go get me some coffee or something," he said as he dismissed his "secretary". He crossed over the room to his large desk where he promptly sat down, hands folded with a somewhat tired sounding sigh. The woman nodded in response, and scurried off, leaving Luthor alone to contemplate his next move. He still hadn't noticed his bloodied hand…

* * *

"Hurgh..." Snake awoke with a grunt, his eyes lazily drooping open as more and more sunlight pierced through his lids. Begrudgingly, the tired soldier eased up off the bed, only for a stinging pain to surge through his back.

"Argh!" He stumbled forward, taking a minute to straighten himself out.

"Damn!" Snake thought to himself, "getting old sucks,".

Dragging his feet away from the couch where he resides and up the staircase, Snake made his way to the kitchen, where he finds Otacon sitting at the table, computer inches away from his face as always.

"Sleeping in again eh?" The Otaku asks with a smirk.

"There's just nothing to get up _for _anymore." Snake replies wearily.

"What're you talking about?" Otacon laughs. "There's plenty to wake up for!" Out of the corner of his eye, Hal catches Sunny making her way in, hefting half a dozen eggs in both arms. She smiles at the two, before quickly taking her place at the step stool where she begins her morning routine.

"For example," Otacon grins toward the girl, and the duo watch her as she progresses. Such a clumsy girl, she could be so cute sometimes, even Snake finds it hard not to laugh.

"Umm, h-here you go Uncle Hal." Sunny says, signature stutter as prominant as ever, as she offers Otacon a plate of eggs. He happily accepts them, and wastes no time in digging in.

"Why thank you very much Sunny." He smiles. Sunny returns it, before turning to Snake, offering him a plate as well.

"Uhh, I think I'll pass Sunny." The soldier says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his handy-dandy smokes. "This is all the breakfast I need." He lights one up and happily takes a drag, partly just to spite the girl, and partly because he just really needed a cigarette.

"Hmph," Sunny huffs in response, turning her head from Snake. "This is a n-no smoking f-flight!" She announces.

"Oh cut Sunny some slack Snake," Otacon pipes up. "I think she's really improved with her cooking." He gleefully takes another mouthful, chewing happily on the food.

"I mean, either way they _have _to be better then those military rations you live off of."

"Rations aren't so bad once you get used to em." Snake retorts, taking another drag from his cigarette in the process. Otacon just rolls his eyes.

"If you say so," He mutters. "And hey, what happened to quitting?" He just then realizes the cigarette laying idly in Snake's mouth.

"Heh, no matter how hard I try I can't stay away from these things for long." He holds the stick in between his fingers, admiring it for a moment, before popping it back in his mouth. Otacon just rolls his eyes again, he should have expected as much. Taking smokes away from Snake is like taking a favorite toy from a toddler. A very dangerous toddler who's been known to snap a man's neck in the blink of an eye… with his feet.

_Ding!_

"Huh?" Everyone looked to Otacon's computer, as the machine suddenly let out a dinging sound.

_"You've got mail."_

The automated voice said.

"That's weird." The scientist says as he fiddles with the keyboard. Snake and Sunny both watch him as he stares intently at the screen in front of him, noticing as his expression goes from surprise, to pure shock, to terror.

"Uhh, Sunny," He speaks. "Why don't you, err, go play."

"Huh?" Sunny looks up, her bright eyes shining with worry.

"Oh oh no! Hehe, d-don't worry Sunny, nothings wrong." Otacon quickly puts up a big grin for the girl. "This is, uh, just an _old friend_ of Snake and me, and uh we have to talk business." The Otaku laughs awkwardly as Sunny stares at him bemused.

"Don't worry, I'll fill you in later." Otacon keeps up the smile as Sunny looks down, and then hesitantly makes her leave. As soon as she's out of sight Otacon drops the smile with a sigh of relief.

"What is it?" Snake asks.

"It's a video mail," Otacon replies. "From one Lex Luthor."

"Luthor!" Snake practically shouts. "What do you think he wants?"

"I'm more concerned with how he actually _got _this address." Otacon replies.

"Otacon... do you think he-"

"Now let's not jump to conclusions Snake," Otacon cuts in. "Let's just watch the video before we make any rash assumptions." Snake gets up from his chair and makes his way to the one next to Otacon, and once he's seated, the Otaku presses play.


	2. Chapter 2

The cave is the very essence of darkness, with not a single _crevice_ being illuminated, all the light having been swallowed up long ago. It's dank, and dirty, with stale air and more bat nests then you can count. The humidity is high, as is the temperature, but then again they _were _pretty far underground.

In a word, the caves atmosphere was _depressing, _much like it's owners heart. Sad, and bleak, and dark, with almost no light left to be found. But somewhere, deep down inside, there is a raging inferno driving the whole thing forward, though you'd never know it just by looking at him. Similar to the cave itself, with the cavernous scenery housing an artillery of advanced technology and gadgets.

Suddenly, a beam of light penetrates the solemn grounds, and the soft pitter patter of footsteps can be heard nearing. Batman doesn't turn around; he already knows who it is.

Without even looking, the detective reaches back and snatches a hot cup of tea off the waiting tray.

"Thank you Alfred." He says after a sip.

"Of course sir." Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, replies curtly. He watches his ward hard at work, hitting various buttons on the large computer console with a fury, going faster then Alfred can keep up. This was completely normal for the Batman of course, but Alfred couldn't help but sense something in the air. When you've been around a person long enough, you almost develop a psychic connection with them. That connection was only strengthened by how close the two men were, so Alfred could usually tell when something was amiss with his son, and now was one of those times.

"I say sir, you seem to be working much more diligently then usual, as if that were possible, is something the matter?" The old butler asks.

"The patriots are _gone _Alfred." Batman deadpans.

"Pardon me?" Alfred asks, completely taken aback.

"I said the Patriots are _gone. _Wiped completely off the grid. They disappeared without a trace." Batman replies. It takes Alfred a minute to think of a response. The Patriots were gone? What does that even mean? That's like saying the_wind _was gone. Was it even there to begin with? How could something like that just disappear?

As the Batman's butler and most trusted assistant, Alfred knew just as much as the Dark Knight himself knew of the Patriots. It's easy to get lost in the details, but basically, it was a group of people running the planet from behind the scenes. Well, people in the most loose of ways. Bruce had long suspected it to actually be nothing but a computer program, but he couldn't be sure. Either way it mattered little to the Dark Knight. The Patriots were not his problem, Gotham was. But even so, Bruce, being the paranoid man that he is, made sure to keep tabs on the agency and their exploits. But then, barely a week ago, all traces of the Patriots just vanished, poof! Gone! They completely fell off the radar. Even though Gotham was his top priority, this _had _to be looked into.

"Well if you pardon my saying so sir, _are you sure?" _Alfred asks. Batman nods.

"Completely. Do you remember what I was telling you about the SOP system being hijacked last week?" Alfred nods. "I suspect it has something to do with that. A man, a soldier, Liquid Snake, the same man behind the Shadow Moses Incident 9 years ago. My investigations tell me _he _was behind the SOP hijack, and I would assume he also had something to do with eliminating the Patriots." Batman pushes himself out of the computer chair and stands.

"I have a lead I want to follow up on. Get to sleep Alfred, but keep your radio by the bed in case I need you." And with that, the vigilante strides to his car, hops in, and drives away, leaving poor Alfred without a clue.

* * *

Snake tugs roughly at the tight collar of his suit. It wasn't uncomfortable for him to be in one, he rather liked wearing tuxes as a matter of fact, his fidgiting actually stemmed more from anxiety. He was more then a bit nervous about this meeting, and even though he's only been waiting here twiddling his thumbs for a few minutes, it seemed to him like hours.

"What does he want..." Snake muttered over and over again, but deep down inside he was confident he knew.

Luthor was evil. No doubt about it. And though the general public remained oblivious to this, seeing him as a real shining star, helping humanity immensely in so many ways with his great intelligence, Snake knew the truth. The truth being, Luthor wasn't out to help the world, doing things for the good of humanity. No, he did these things for _himself, _Snake has seen some real ego maniacs in his time but Luthor surely took the cake. He did nothing for anyone that wasn't himself. He wants to be top dog, to be important, to rule the world even.

It made Snake sick, but as much as he hated to admit it, Luthor had already accomplished this pretty much. There weren't many things you didn't have being the CEO of Lexcorp, or many things you couldn't _get _being the smartest human being on the planet.

_He was in charge. _He could get anyone to do anything at anytime. But, of course, that wasn't enough for Luthor. He wanted even _more, _what more there was for him to gain Snake couldn't even fathom.

And that's why he was so nervous, because if Lex truly _did _want what Snake thought he wanted, there would be no denying him. Honestly if there was a bad guy in this equation, Snake had to be honest with himself and admit it was him. He took something that was owed to Lex, _stole _it. It belonged full-heartedly to Luthor and there was nothing Snake could say to dispute that.

But he'd be damned if he ever let Lex know this. No, what Snake took from Lex was _far_ to valuable to let him get his despicable little hands on. He would never tell Lex the truth, never. But if Lex were to somehow find out the truth on his own... Snake didn't know what he'd do.

"And you must be the _infamous _Solid Snake." Snake looks up from his hands to find himself staring into the eyes of just the man who he'd spent all day thinking about. _Cold _eyes. _Cruel._

Snake stood up and, doing his best to ignore the condescending tone in Luthor's voice, begrudgingly extended his hand.

"Lex Luthor, it's good to meet you." He says.

"Heh, yes I'm sure it is." Luthor ignores Snake's attempt at a handshake, and instead keeps his hands firmly folded behind his back. He turns, gesturing for Snake to follow.

"Follow me to my office David, we have much to discuss."

Oh, Luthor was good.

He was so confident, so sure of himself. He said it so casually without giving any hints, but Snake caught it. Luthor was smart but he couldn't fool this old soldier.

Luthor called him David.

Just how much did this guy know about him?

Luthor was playing mind games, and by god they were working. Fear was an emotion all but forgotten by Snake. Apprehension, and anxiety however, he was all too familiar with.

"Coming?" Snake is broken from his thoughts by Luthor's voice. _"David?"_

His cold, calculating, manipulating voice.

The old soldier hesitates a moment, before following Luthor down the hall, through a door, and into the CEO's office. Luthor walks all the way across the room, and sits at his desk, motioning for Snake to take a seat at the chair in front of him. Skeptically, Snake begins to enter the room and take his seat in front of the billionaire. The chair was comfortable, but did nothing to ease Snake's worry.

The two just sit there for a few minutes, Snake sitting awkwardly with his hands on his lap, and Luthor with his elbows rested on the desk, and his head resting in his hands, neither willing to speak first. Snake's age hampered many of his abilities, but his intense gaze was something that would never falter. Luthor however, seemed wholly unaffected, just continuing to smirk.

Snake knew he had to be careful, he was treading dangerous territory here, and if he gave Luthor even one opening he knew the genius wouldn't hesitate to pounce. He had to choose his words carefully.

"What do you want Luthor?" He eventually settled on asking. Luthor's eyes perked up at that question, his mouth opening to form a quick response.

"Ah, but it's not what _I _want David, it's what _you __need_."

"Why do you keep calling me that!" Snake suddenly juts from his seat, spitting the words at Luthor in anger.

"What, David?" The CEO asks. "Well, it is your name, isn't it?"

"How do you know that?" Snake seethes.

"I know a lot of things David, a lot of things about _you, _much more then the general public does."

This wasn't good. Snake was playing right into the madman's hands, he had to steer the conversation back into his own favor if he hoped to get out of here unscathed.

"Hmph, yeah? Well I know a lot about you too." He says as he sits back down. Luthor raises an eyebrow at that statement, much like a parent would when humoring a child.

"Oh really?"

"I'm not playing around Luthor, I know all about the _real _you." Snake states matter-of-factly. "For example, I know how instead of spending your time doing things for the betterment of humanity, like you _claim _you do, you instead spend your time funding organizations such as the Injustice League of America, in hopes that they'll help you take out the JLA, as well as your main focus, _Superman._ I know all about how your rivalry with Superman stretches into an _obsession. _Your _jealous _of him, of all the attention he gets, all the praise he receives as Metropolis's- and the world at large's- savior. _You _want the credit, _you _want to be America's man of steel. But you _can't._ Which is why you spend your time funding projects like Cadmus, trying in vain to bring Superman down to your level. But the truth is Luthor," Snake looks up, staring the genius dead in the eye.

"You can't bring him down, because you can't even _begin _to reach him."

Snake sits back, feeling satisfaction with his little speech. Anyone else would have missed it, but Snake saw Luthor's smile, for just a fraction of a second, waver at the end of the speech, faltering for just a moment. But just as soon as it left, it comes back full force.

"So it seems you _aren't _just another brute with a gun after all. No, it seems you _do _have a brain under those muscles." Luthor stands, hands still folded behind his back as he approaches the soldier.

"Good, because with what I have planned for you, you'll need every advantage you can get." And with that, Luthor's arm springs like a cobra snatching its prey, a glass vial filled with a mysterious purple liquid rocketing on a collision course straight for Snake's neck.

"HURGH!"

"GAH"

_CRACK!_


	3. Chapter 3

A low grunting noise pushes past the bald man's lips. He stumbles back, grabbing onto his hand, utter shock lining his face. The pain is all consuming, but the humility of the situation is what he _really _can't stand. The syringe previously heading on a one-way collision course for Snake's neck now lies, shattered on the ground, it's contents seeping out, as its intended target calmly begins to stand up.

"Haarck... y-you broke my hand!"

_SWISH!_

"ARGH!"

"I'll do a lot more then that if you don't tell me exactly what the hell is going on _right now._" The old soldier, with speed not deserving of his age, dashes across the room, and in a second has Luthor pinned up against the wall. The billionaire lets out a growl, as his previously calm and cool demeanor evaporates before Snake's very eyes.

"You'll pay for this! ACK!" Just as the words leave his mouth, so does a wad of blood, courtesy of a fist delivered along his face.

"_Answer my question._" Snake growls. Luthor looks down at him, his rage all encompassing, practically drilling from his eyes into Snake's skull. But just then, in a flash, it melts away, replaced by a smirk as he looks beyond Snake, toward the front door.

"About time you got here." He smiles.

A fraction of a second. It took Snake just a fraction of a second too long to turn around, and he's still feeling the ramifications of that mistake to this day.

Just _6 _months ago, 6 _measly _months ago, he would have dodged that bullet with ease. But his age was getting to him, he reacted to late, moved to slow, and before he knew it, Snake was lying on the floor unconscious, listening to Luthor's snickers as they slowly fade away...

* * *

The dead of night; the batwing silently lands in a nearby field. Batman exits the plane, and quietly makes his way out of the forest and towards the nearby facility.

His intelligence tells him that Outer Haven, the submersible battleship used by Liquid Ocelot as his safe haven from the Patriot's control system, was confiscated soon after the Guns of the Patriots act and was now being held here, at this government facility.

This place was a real area 51, with a multitude of top secret missions and classified experiments taking place here, most involving varying levels of alien technology and tactical espionage field missions.

Perfect place for a war ship armed better then any other battleship in existence, equipped with a fully working octocamo system, and housing data files detailing the Patriot's full digital infrastructure.

Crouched in the bushes, Batman is all but invisible with the cloak of night surrounding him. He activates the night vision imaging in his cowl, and assesses the area.

This facility was literally located in the middle of nowhere, in some nameless forest in some nameless town in the middle of Oregon. The building bordered the Pacific Ocean, Batman guessed Haven was docked somewhere back there. A 12 foot barbed wire electrical fence blocked his path. Easy enough to get over, but the dozens of land mines and motion sensors all implanted into the ground might complicate things. There was no going back there he knew, Batman would just have to go straight through the compound.

He glances towards the front entrance, no doubt electronically locked. He'd bet his utility belt there were security cameras positioned around the perimeter as well.

Activating the advanced imagery in his cowl, the world's greatest detective is prooved right, as 3 rotating cameras are highlighted in his vision. A quick batarang could surely disable them, but that would rouse suspicion, something Bruce desperately wanted to avoid on this outting.

But the Batman has more tricks up his sleeve then just batarangs. With a twist of his hand, the dark knight produces what appears to be a pistol at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one would find it's a _far _more handy device.

Aiming the gun at the first security camera, Batman presses the trigger, and instantly the thing goes offline.

"Huh?" The security guard, clad in standard issue blue outfit, nearly spills his coffee he sits up so fast.

Meanwhile, back outside, Batman quickly does the same to the other two cameras. Not as fast as one of those chaff grenades the military uses, but it's a helluva lot more powerful.

As soon as he's clear, Batman makes his way from out of the underbrush, and towards the entrance. A quick look over, and he's already deviced a plan.

* * *

"Gurr, c'mon ya stupid-" The guard bangs on the monitor for a few seconds, but still all he gets is snow. With a huff, he reaches for his walkie-talkie, and just as his finger glazes over the button, the image comes back.

"Huh?" The guard leans in, eyeing all three monitors closely. Nothing _seems _to be out of place...

After scrutinizing the picture, the mook shrugs and leans back in his chair, genially munching on his donut and sipping his coffee.

* * *

Batman slips the third photograph into the final cameras view, then gets back to work. With the cameras covered, he could focus on the door. After a bit of bat-hacking, he's in, and slides through the threshold. He takes a careful look at his surroundings.

He was in some kind of weapons hangar, various aircrafts were scattered about the dark room, with a few sentries this way and that.

Batman studied the outline of this building back at the cave and knew exactly where to go. Reaching for his grapple gun, the dark knight zips up to the second floor by the railing of the staircase. He was still within the soldiers field of vision, but the area wasn't particularly bright so he'd manage.

He would continue on, sticking to the shadows, all but invisible. Eventually, while striding down the facilities main hall, Batman would come across another sentry, this one in a particularly tricky spot.

The vigilante presses himself up against the wall and peeks out the door to watch the patrolman go along his route. He was in a very difficult spot, Bruce knew the only way to advance would be by taking the guard down. So he waited for his chance, and when the guard turned around the Batman sprung, snatching him up in a chokehold before he even knew what was happening.

The guard writhes and gasps in Batman's grip, but he cannot escape the vigilante's hold. Before long the guard is unconscious and Batman is dragging the body to a dark and secluded area. It was late, and all the researchers and staff probably went home by now. Only a few night patrol remained, and almost all the lights were turned out, so it wasn't hard for Batman to find a suitable spot.

Once the guard was taken care of, Bruce continued onward in his trek, disposing of more guards when needed and avoiding security cameras when necessary.

Security was _tight, _that's for sure, but it was all in a days work for The Dark Knight. But even so, as Batman went deeper and deeper, security got tighter and tighter as going ons got secreter and secreter. He takes note of an airvent, and decides to travel through that.

Gripping the grate, the Batman rips it right off it's bolts with his bare hands, and, crouching into the small tunnel, continues on.

He begins making good progress, and soon, reaches the other end of the vent. Peeking out into the hallway, Batman is happy to see, he's reached his destination.

Placing his foot against the grate, the vigilante kicks it off the wall, and jumps out, putting it back up to ward off any potential suspicion.

He looks on in front of him, straight at the door in front of his face. The backdoor. This would take him outside, where, hopefully, he would find what he's been looking for.

* * *

There was blackness.

But blackness was still awareness, and he realized this before he came to understand from where the blackness came.

He was awake.

His eyes were closed.

And he then realized the heaviness of his own lids as he struggled to lift them, the things sticking, like some stubborn child refusing to release its hold on a favorite toy.

But he'd been in this position before.

Drugs. Drugs did this sort of thing to you.

It was in trying to move his arms, to bring his hands to his face, he discovered he could not, and with that discovery, the return of sensation to his body.

That's when he realized he was underwater.

"HROOMPH!" A muted muffle escapes the soldier's mouth through the oxygen mask, and his eyes burst open.

Frantically, he pounds on the glass incasing him in this liquid, panic overtaking him.

He was in _pain_.

Every inch of his body was burning, from his head to his toes. Snake had been literally _on fire_ several times in his life, so he knew what it felt like, and the feeling he currently held was the only thing comparable. In fact it may have been _worse! _Not even Ocelot's torture was as excruciating as this.

It was like every part of him was being scraped against, down to his very _cells_.

But he was trapped, couldn't escape from this infernal liquid!

Yelps and grunts make bubbles in the clear blue water, rising up and colliding with the top plate, popping on impact. He pounds on the glass with every ounce of strength in his body, putting everything he has into breaking free, but by god he _can't!_

The pain.

The _pain!_

The terrible, terrible _pain!_

It was all there was now, nothing else in the world. Only his own pain and suffering.

But there was nothing he could do to stop it.

And then, just when the pain reached its peak and he was sure he could bear no more, it stopped.

Just like that.

It was like someone pressed the off switch, every last trace of the pain just vanished, along with the liquid which was drained out through some hole on the table. In its place, Snake felt a newfound source of energy. It wasn't adrenaline or a combat high or anything like that; what he felt now was more... natural, if that made sense. It felt like he just woke up from a 200 year nap. Hell knowing Luthor maybe he _did _sleep for 200 years-

Gah, Luthor!

Where the hell was he? What did he do?

Well, Snake's questions were about to be answered as the glass plate holding him trapped slowly slid open.

He was laying on his back, on some kind of operating table. The glass plate lifted, and he was finally free to sit up. He did just that, and took a good look at his surroundings.

It was... a lab, that's for sure. All kinds of computers and gizmos surround him, beeping and flashing lights, big red buttons, he had know idea what the hell all this crap was doing.

But there was something else that caught his attention. It was - it was _Luthor!_

"Well well well, about time you woke u-" Luthor chokes on his own words as his windpipe is suddenly constricted. Wasn't this guy lying on the table? Now he's fully stood and holding Luthor by the neck.

"What did you do..." Snake growls. Luthor claws desperately at Snake's hand, trying in vain to pry it from his throat, but it's no use. He's no match for the man's monstrous strength. He was like a wild animal, feral... going by nothing but instinct.

"Why... don't... you... see for... your...SELF!" Lex barks. He produces a small mirror and holds it up to Snake, who's grip immediately weakens upon seeing his reflection.

Lex backs away, annoyed that Snake crumpled up his favorite suit.

"You..." Snake touches a hand to his face, his jaw dropped as he stares at the reflection in front of him.

"Cured you?" Lex finishes the sentence for him, half annoyed and half condescending.

But he was telling the truth.

Gone were the wrinkles and gray hair he'd spent so much time getting used to.

No longer were his eyes reduced to a dull, gray color.

He was...

He was...

"_Young...!_"

Taking his gaze from the mirror, Snake looks at his hand in front of him and, true enough, it's the same as his reflection. _Young. _Tight skin, and a healthy color... no longer dusty and pale looking.

_He was young!_

"How did you-"

"I've built weapons capable of destroying interstellar space gods and machines that defy the very nature of time and space, a little _youthenization _chamber was hardly even worth my time." Lex interrupts, his arrogance in full effect.

"...Then why?"

"Hmm?"

"If it was hardly worth your time then why did you do it?" Snake asks. At this, Luthor smiles.

"The machine is nothing but scrap," He edges closer to Snake, and clasps his hands around the soldier's face. He stares at Snake, a strange look of _admiration _laced across his features.

"You however, are indispensable..."


End file.
